From tourist paradise to island with just one car: Can Indonesia's longest sea bridge narrow the divide?

In Indonesia’s sprawling Riau Islands province, paradise and poverty collide, as Straits Times’ regional correspondent Arlina Arshad and photojournalist Kelvin Chng have discovered after a three-day trip to Batam and its surrounds on a rickety boat.

Ms Ramdia rowing a boat at Kampung Air Mas on the Tanjung Sauh island, where Orang Asli indigenous people live in wooden houses on stilts. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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We set off early from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Batam's Nongsapura Ferry Terminal on the morning of July 31. After 45 minutes on a BatamFast ferry, we arrive on the island's upscale northern region where luxury beachfront hotels and pristine white beaches abound.

Our first stop is Nongsa Digital Park, a multi-million-dollar technological park where we see young Indonesian techies hunching over their Macbooks in bright and airy work spaces overlooking a pond with geese. The park was opened in March 2018 and many of the digital businesses are headquartered in Singapore.

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